About That “Food Stamp President” Thing…
The new thing in GOPland is calling President Obama the “Food Stamp President.”
But is it true?
Newt Gingrich claims that “more people have been put on food stamps by Barack Obama than any president in American history.” He’s wrong. More were added under Bush than under Obama, according to the most recent figures.
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We asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition service for month-by-month figures going back to January 2001. And they show that under President George W. Bush the number of recipients rose by nearly 14.7 million. Nothing before comes close to that.
And under Obama, the increase so far has been 14.2 million. To be exact, the program has so far grown by 444,574 fewer recipients during Obama’s time in office than during Bush’s.
It’s possible that when the figures for January 2012 are available they will show that the gain under Obama has matched or exceeded the gain under Bush. But not if the short-term trend continues. The number getting food stamps declined by 43,528 in October. And the economy has improved since then.
But the point Republicans are making with this line of attack has nothing to do with the economy, or, god forbid, jobs… and everyone knows it. To paraphrase Charles Pierce, “Their dog whistles have become air raid sirens.
I guess this is what a dying national political party looks like. In 2042, when my grandchildren ask me if turn of the century Republicans were really as crazy as they are depicted in all the history banks, I’ll be prepared to give them the full lowdown.
You know, if you have been claiming (wrongly) that the BushCo years were economic boom years, this chart showing the steady growth of people on food stamps ought to make you hang your head in shame. The majority of people on food stamps are the working poor and children. Meaning that lots of folks have jobs that don’t even support them or their families.
Ironic too that the businesses being showered with tax breaks and other subsidies to create lots of jobs that don’t pay especially well never have to do any of the kinds of means testing we subject the folks who apply for food stamps to. Maybe it is time to trade taxpayer subsidies for employer commitments to jobs that pay above the poverty level.
All social welfare is less than 1% of the budget.
It’s the corporate pork, corporate tax breaks,…. that’s killing us, and it was Bush and his friends that really bloated this part of our expenditures. Lobbyists have been very busy!
And what fraction of Obama’s 14.2 million increase came within his first 6 months (before any of his policies were engaged)? I’m guessing half. Bush owns that half too.
thought I’d share this:
Mike Murphy, a republican strategist, said today “When “Newtie” Gingrich won in SC the alcohol sales skyrocketed in the Washington DC area.
Democrats were buying boatloads of Champagne and republicans were buying cases of hard liquor”!
if that’s the case (pun intended) there r going to be a lot of hangovers again in DC tomorrow!!
Try this on for size – in 2011, the economy created more jobs than 7 out of 8 of the Bush years.
That will make Republicans cry, UI.
Gingrich has raised family support obligations (alimony) more than any other Presidential candidate since Thomas Jefferson (child support).
I thought Ben Franklin would be the child support poster boy from Jefferson’s era. And I didn’t know Sally Hemmings was legally eligible to file back then anyway.